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Manchester United suffer fall in revenue

Manchester United have confirmed the club suffered a 9.9 per cent revenue drop in the first quarter of the 2015 financial year.

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Written ByMatthew Rogerson

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The results are the first of the new Premier League season and
follow from United's disappointing campaign last time out in which
they failed to qualify for the lucrative UEFA Champions League
under David Moyes.

Since then, the club have splashed the cash on a new-look side
in an attempt to regain ground on their top-flight rivals.

However, United confirmed on Tuesday that overall revenue in the
three months to the end of September had fallen from the 2014
figure of £98.5million to £88.7m.

Commercial, broadcasting and matchday revenue all fell, based on
the same time periods, while sponsorship revenue rose by 2.4 per
cent to £46.3m, although this was offset by a reduction in tour
revenue following United's close-season friendlies in America.

The club expect total revenue in the 2015 fiscal year to be
between £385m and £395m, with the adjusted Earnings Before
Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) predicted
to be between £90m and £95m.

However, a somewhat negative set of results was compounded by a
small increase in gross debt - this figure rising by 0.3 per cent
to £362.2m.

Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward - whose first season in the
role coincided with Moyes' campaign - said the club's new deal with
Chevrolet would lay the foundations for improved results in the
remainder of the fiscal year.

"While we recognise that the 2014/15 fiscal year financial
results will reflect our absence from the Champions League, we
signed the largest kit sponsorship deal in the history of sport in
the first quarter," he explained.

"And, with that concluded, we are excited to focus our efforts
on the meaningful growth opportunities in sponsorship, digital
media and retail and merchandising."